[Vision2020] The (New) Troy Reservoir

[Jerry Weitz]

Steve's views are correct.  Moscow bantered this idea around in 1938 when a 
new well was drilled somewhere east of town came up dry and nothing 
happened.     I think that the time has come to take action and encourage 
the building of a reservoir.  The question will be how to pay.  Any ideas? 
jerry


At 12:10 PM 8/9/06, Steven Basoa wrote:
>Kudos to the Troy founders for their foresight and to the current Troy 
>officials for their planning.  The following article (from the 
>Moscow-Pullman Daily news) details how the town of Troy may go about 
>dealing with their water issues.   The potential for building a reservoir 
>for Moscow has been mentioned (on v2020) several times.  I do not know if 
>the city officials are even considering this idea.  Considering the 
>uncertainty of our aquifers, the time for studying this option is long 
>past due.  The city wouldn't even have to hire outside consultants.  We 
>have an excellent Geological Sciences department at the UI.  One would 
>think/hope that the city and the university would be eager to work 
>together on such a project.  The potential benefits could be enormous.  It 
>would be sad times for Moscow should the wells ever run dry.
>
>*******
>
>TACKLING THE WATER ISSUE
>
>Troy community leaders express need for new reservoir
>
>By Ryan Bentley, Daily News staff writer
>Published: 08-07-2006
>
>Officials in Troy want to pursue a reservoir that would provide the town 
>with twice the amount of water it needs.
>
>Troy is in the preliminary stages of building a 250-million to 
>300-million-gallon reservoir downstream from its existing 8-million-gallon 
>reservoir.
>
>The town collects about 80 percent of its water from the surface and only 
>uses its two wells during the summer months.
>
>The area flooded to house the reservoir would be land the town already 
>owns and property owned by the University of Idaho.
>
>Troy's founders decided more than 120 years ago to buy a large portion of 
>the drainage that supplies the town with its water.
>
>Their foresight may provide the town with the water it needs for years to 
>come.
>
>"Right now, Troy is restricted and can't really grow because we just don't 
>have enough water," Mayor Ken Whitney Jr. said. "We believe this is the 
>best option for a sustainable, more plentiful water supply, but we need 
>the town to sign off on it."
>
>The new system's projected cost is approximately $3.5 million. The city 
>currently has about $1 million saved from select logging on its drainage 
>area. Water rates would increase to between $10 and $15, although Whitney 
>said all of the cost analyses and data are rough.
>
>The city has been looking at potential reservoir sites since 1993, Whitney 
>said. The City Council and forester Cliff Todd will explain the need for a 
>new reservoir at an Aug. 28 meeting at the Troy Lions Club. The meeting 
>will begin at 7 p.m.
>
>"We need people to be at this meeting," Whitney said. "They are the ones 
>that have to decide if they really want us to pursue this route."
>
>The city could drill more wells for about $100,000 apiece, Whitney said, 
>but Troy is located over an aquifer that does not have enough water to 
>continually supply the town.
>
>Todd said studies done on the aquifer show it is not part of the Grand 
>Ronde Aquifer that supplies water to Moscow and Pullman. The aquifer under 
>Troy stops before it reaches Moscow, he said. Wells drilled into the 
>aquifer below Troy pull no more than 150 gallons a minute, while some 
>wells in the Grand Ronde Aquifer pump more than 2,000 gallons a minute.
>
>"At 300 million gallons that would be enough to supply Troy with enough 
>water for two years if it had 1,500 people living in it," Todd said. "The 
>reservoir makes the most sense because of the topography, the creek and 
>the amount of water we can get."
>
>The Civilian Conservation Corps constructed Troy's current reservoir in 
>the 1930s. The town didn't start using groundwater until the 1970s.
>
>Whitney said the existing reservoir was nothing more than a muddy hole 
>last summer, and the wells were running dry.
>
>"We were hurting," he said. "If we get a new reservoir we would have water 
>in reserve for when we have those dry years and not have to worry every 
>summer and not have to ration."
>
>Whitney said formulas he has seen allocate 100 million gallons of water a 
>year for 800 people, which is the population of Troy. With its current 
>reservoir, the town can only draw 60 million gallons a year.
>
>"Several contractors have come to us wanting to build, but we just don't 
>have the water," he said. "This will be the foundation in Troy's growth."
>
>The town already has water rights to the drainage area, but it needs a 
>permit to move the holding area down Big Meadow Creek.
>
>Latah County gave the city a conditional use permit for the reservoir. 
>Now, the citizens must approve the plan and pass the bond that would pay 
>for the reservoir. The city must hire an engineer to plan the dam, and the 
>Idaho Department of Water Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
>have to approve the plan.
>
>Todd said one of the contingencies the city faces is making accommodations 
>for salmon, steelhead and wetlands. Todd said those shouldn't be a problem 
>if the city dumps water into the creek during the summer to accommodate 
>salmon and steelhead and creates new wetlands to compensate for the creek.
>
>Besides providing for fish, Todd said IDWR wants Troy to dump extra water 
>into the creek during the summer to accommodate the city of Juliaetta's 
>needs. Todd said water for fish and people downstream would be possible. 
>Even if Troy's population doubled, planners still project an extra 150 
>million gallons.
>
>Todd does not foresee running a line to Moscow if the Grand Ronde Aquifer 
>dries up, but pumping water to accommodate for people downstream is realistic.
>
>"This is the most important issue for Troy," Whitney said. "We are trying 
>to look far into the future so our kids and grandkids can have enough water."
>
>IF YOU GO
>
>* WHAT: Town meeting to hear from the public on whether the city should 
>pursue a reservoir.
>
>* WHEN: Troy Lions Club
>
>* WHERE: Aug. 28 at 7 p.m.
>
>Ryan Bentley can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 237, or by e-mail at 
><mailto:rbentley at dnews.com>rbentley at dnews.com.
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